Emergency Fund Calculator
Enter your essential monthly costs, what you have saved and what you can put aside each month. You will see your target, the gap, and how long it takes to close it.
Rent, food, transit, bills, minimum debt payments.
- Your savings
- Target
Where the solid line meets the dashed one is the month you are fully funded.
What this means
You are fully funded. Keep this money in a separate high-interest savings account and only touch it for real emergencies.
How it works
An emergency fund keeps a surprise (job loss, car repair, vet bill) from turning into credit card debt. Three months of essentials is a solid start; six months is safer if your income is variable. Keep it in cash, not investments.
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How many months should you hold?
Three months of essential costs is a solid first target for most people. Six months makes sense with an irregular income, a single income household, or a specialised job that takes longer to replace. Essentials means rent, food, transit, insurance and minimum debt payments — not your whole lifestyle.
Where to keep it
Keep it liquid and separate: a high-interest savings account at a CDIC-insured institution, ideally not the account you spend from. Many Canadians hold the fund inside a TFSA so the interest is not taxed, while keeping it out of anything that can drop in value.
Fund first, or debt first?
Build a small starter buffer of about one month, then attack high-interest debt, then finish the fund. Without any buffer, the next surprise goes straight back onto the credit card.
Common questions
- Does an emergency fund count as investing?
- No. Its job is to be available and boring. Money you might need next month should not be exposed to market swings.
- What counts as an emergency?
- Something urgent and unplanned: job loss, a medical or dental bill, an essential repair. A sale or a trip is a savings goal, not an emergency.
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